Somerset, KY – I’m so pissed at the folks at Hallmark. I count on those little free calendars they give out to keep me abreast of important holidays. I mean, yeah, I got the big ones straight in my head, but I always get Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day confused, and I couldn’t tell you in what month Flag Day falls to save my life. So I check my little calendar and feel like I have it under control, then goddamn if I don’t sign on to the Demon and find out this past week was Filthy Trailer Trash Child Abuse-Slash-Neglect Week (aka “FaTTCAN”) down south. I didn’t even get cards in the mail, goddammit!

I already knew about Raymond Thurmond. I thought it was an isolated instance. Then I come upon Kahyleaha F. Alcorn. (I know! Just by picking a name, her momma doomed her to the trailer park!)

Wednesday, the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office was called to the Four Winds Trailer Park after someone reported seeing a small child inside one of the park’s residences, standing at a window with broken glass, pushing and pulling on the window’s frame.

Those particular windows are structurally very flimsy, making the glass rather easy to break. I know this from personal experience. Many years ago, I lived with my mother and her boyfriend in a trailer with windows just like that.

One particular weekend, I got to spend the night with a friend across the street. It was wonderful…until my friend went to sleep and her parents started fighting. Trailer walls are very thin. The things my friend’s father said to her mother were terrible. While I don’t remember exactly what he said, I clearly remember my horror and my conviction that I had to leave.

I returned to the trailer I shared with my mother and her boyfriend, only to discover that the two of them had taken advantage of an evening without a dependent child and had gone out. I had no key.

I was determined to not return to my friend’s, and so I managed to drag the front door’s wooden steps underneath the living room window, which was constructed exactly as the one in the photo above. With my 4th-grade knowledge (or lack thereof) of physics, I figured I could wiggle the bottom panel enough to slide my skinny ass through it. Yeah, it took only a couple of tugs before the glass broke, and yeah, I got a few small cuts making my way through the window. But I made it home, where it was safe, and quiet, and very very clean. Wish I could say that was the case for Kahyleaha Alcorn’s baby.

The responding deputy observed the child at the window and noted he wasn’t yet two years old. He also observed that the tot had dried blood on one hand, possibly from a cut caused by the window’s broken glass.

It was only after the deputy pounded on the side of the trailer that he managed to get the attention of someone other than the wounded toddler. Turns out Alcorn and her boyfriend were asleep in another room and probably had been for some time, as neighbors had seen the little boy at the broken window off and on for at least two hours.

An unattended baby and broken glass is bad enough, but once the deputy gained entry to the trailer, he saw even more reason for concern. The residence was full of trash, flies, and cat shit. And that poor little boy–so much shit had accumulated in his diaper that it had run out the sides and onto his legs. Mommies, how long does it take to fill and overflow a diaper? I have no children and am not particularly susceptible to the wiles of infants, but this breaks my heart.

Alcorn has been charged with second-degree criminal abuse and is being held at the Pulaski County Detention Center. Her son has been taken into protective custody by the Department of Social Services. And the neighbors…well, they say the family has “had problems” before. Big shocker there.

As for me, fuck Hallmark. I’ve made a special note about FaTTCAN and am already planning for next year. I’ll schedule my bad dye job now, so I’ll have wicked awesome roots when the happy season rolls around again. I have the cinder blocks; I just need a tire-less beater (preferably with at least one fender primer-coated). Since leases end around this time for students, it’ll be a snap to find some threadbare urine-stained couch for outdoor lounging. In fact, to make sure I don’t get caught unprepared again, I’m going to go get started addressing next year’s cards.

Thanks to brokenandtwisted for the title. Lucy’s got her eye on this in our forums.

PREVIOUS ARTICLE

NEXT ARTICLE

Comments

The views expressed in the comments are those of the comment writers and don't represent the views or opinions of D'D or its staff. Feel free to flag comments that may violate conditions outlined in our Disclaimer.